The Truth? My Leadership Had to Evolve.
We talk a lot about difficult franchisees.
But we almost never talk about the elephant in the room.
Because that elephant is uncomfortable.
It questions the one thing franchisors rarely want to challenge: their own leadership.
Here’s the non-obvious truth most networks discover too late:
- A difficult franchisee is rarely a problem.
- It is leadership debt coming due.
- Not an accident.
- A signal.
- A mirror.
- Sometimes even a warning that the system and the leadership behind it must evolve.
And this is actually good news.
Because the moment you see it this way, you stop reacting… and start transforming.
How to Think Differently About “Difficult” Franchisees
If you’re still thinking in terms of managing franchisees, you will keep facing resistance.
High-performing networks think differently:
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from managing behavior → to developing leaders,
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from fixing problems → to reading signals,
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from growth equals success → to readiness equals sustainability.
When franchisees become “difficult,” the real question isn’t what went wrong with them it’s what lagged in the system or in leadership.
The Leadership Mistake That Changed Everything
I still remember the moment clearly.
As CEO of a franchise network, one of the most defining situations of my career involved a franchisee who was anything but problematic.
- He was strong.
- Committed.
- High-performing.
After two years, he wanted to accelerate.
He wanted to own a real business.
Convinced of his potential, I sold him three additional franchises at once.
On paper, it made perfect sense.
- Ambitious.
- Logical.
- Aligned with growth.
In reality, it was premature.
A few months later:
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financial pressure increased,
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standards began to slip,
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the relationship tightened.
Then one day BAM.
A lawyer entered the conversation.
That’s when it hit me.
This franchisee hadn’t become difficult.
I had placed him in a situation where he couldn’t succeed.
I overestimated his capacity for rapid expansion.
I underestimated the level of support required.
And I confused current performance with true expansion readiness.
The result?
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one excellent franchisee lost,
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four units to stabilize at significant cost,
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major legal fees,
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and a leadership lesson I would never forget.
Yes, I helped create a difficult franchisee.
But more importantly, that moment rewired how I lead.
Growth Doesn’t Break Networks.
Leadership Gaps Do.
This is the shift most franchisors resist until it becomes unavoidable.
A network cannot grow beyond the leadership maturity of the franchisor.
And that responsibility starts before the contract is signed.
A difficult franchisee is rarely “recruited.”
They are often produced by:
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overly optimistic recruitment,
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unclear expectations,
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growth that outpaces capability,
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or insufficient support.
In franchising, everything rests on an invisible pillar: trust.
When trust is strong:
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challenges become shared projects,
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tensions resolve faster,
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performance becomes durable.
When trust erodes, even top performers can become resistant, critical or disengaged.
And the fracture almost always begins long before it becomes visible.
The Three Reflexes That Quietly Make Things Worse
When a franchisee is labeled “difficult,” three reflexes show up again and again.
1. Waiting too long
- Hoping the situation resolves itself.
- But in reality, the longer you wait, the more the narrative hardens.
- Anything that drags eventually gets dirty.
2. Acting too fast without understanding
Addressing symptoms:
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slipping standards,
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strained relationships,
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declining performance.
Without understanding what the franchisee is actually experiencing, the solution stays shallow.
3. Using the franchise agreement as the main lever
The agreement protects the framework. It never replaces leadership.
When it becomes the primary tool:
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relationships stiffen,
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trust declines,
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collaboration fades.
Strong networks operate through alignment, not constraint.
Where Leadership Truly Reveals Itself
This is the most uncomfortable and most powerful truth in franchising:
When a franchisor talks mostly about difficult franchisees, the issue is rarely behavior.
It’s design.
A signal that:
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expectations aren’t fully clear,
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support must evolve,
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or the system itself needs to be upgraded.
Here’s the hidden emotional risk most leaders avoid naming:
The real danger isn’t confrontation.
It’s discovering too late that growth outpaced leadership.
Blame feels easier in the short term. But it freezes trust and slows collective progress.
Ownership does the opposite:
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it strengthens credibility,
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deepens trust,
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and restores control.
A Prediction Most Networks Aren’t Ready For
In the next 5–10 years, franchise networks won’t struggle because of bad franchisees.
They will struggle because:
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leadership didn’t evolve fast enough,
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systems weren’t designed for complexity,
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and growth was pursued before readiness was secured.
The future belongs to franchisors who stop asking:
“Who’s responsible?”
And start asking:
“What needs to evolve in our leadership and system—now?”
From Reactive Leadership to Proactive Leadership
This shift now defines the coaching I do with franchisors who want to help existing franchisees grow into multi-unit leaders.
Because scaling a network is not about opening more units.
It’s about growing leaders faster than the network grows.
In practice, that means:
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far more rigorous recruitment when expansion is considered,
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honest validation of readiness for the next level,
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structured, reinforced multi-unit support,
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clear, explicit, and continuous communication from day one.
Networks don’t scale through unit count alone. They scale through leadership maturity.
And in franchising, that maturity always starts with the franchisor.
The Only Question That Really Matters
Not:
“Why is this franchisee difficult?”
But:
“What is this situation asking me to evolve in my leadership and in my system?”
Because a difficult franchisee is rarely an isolated issue.
It is often a capable leader who wasn’t supported at the right pace.
And when leadership evolves… The network follows. Always.
